Spirit
by Deamo18
Summary: Raguna and Iris have settled down, and now their son, Ciro, has grown up and is leaving the nest. This is an OC story set in the world of Rune Factory, but not following any story line from any of the games.
1. Chapter 1

_**A.N. Since I've had so much success with my Harvest Moon fanfic, I figured I'd start one about Rune Factory Frontier, especially consider it's right after Halloween (you'll see what I mean). I hope you enjoy!**_

Growing up, I always knew I was different. I mean, it's a given when your mother is a vampire. I'm what you'd call a mixed breed; my mother is the last of the once great Vampire Tribe, and she doesn't remember much about her parents. A long, long time ago, she was left all alone on Whale Island, and became so lonely, she split in two! My mom will probably live forever, but nobody knows what my life span is; I'm the only child of mixed parentage anyone has known in centuries. But I'm not concerned with that.

What is cool about me is that I can go out in the sun. This amazed my mother; she can go outside in the sun, but it blinds and weakens her. I can also, much like Candy, converse with the spirits. Other than that, I'm pretty much a normal kid; my only other weird point is entering the church. I get really uncomfortable, and if I stay inside too long, I get fidgety and a really big headache. After that, I pass out until they take me outside. Which stinks, especially at home, since Laura runs the clinic out of the church, but it's okay. My dad's way better at that stuff, anyways.

I guess my story starts on the night of my eighteenth birthday; the day I left home for the first time. It started at six, because I wanted to say goodbye to my mom….

"Ciro, what for your mother to get up; I know she'll miss you when you're gone. I mean, you're the only one in town that truly understands everything about her. Now, let's go over the rucksack I gave you. Did you pack everything?" Dad asked. I rolled my eyes. My dad, Raguna, was an Earthmate, and while I shared my mother's genes more, I also inherited this from him. It meant I could hear the voice of the Earth, but really the only thing I'd noticed was that I was good at farming, and I could talk to the Whale of Whale Island.

"Yes, dad. I packed a ton of Tomato Juice, as well as the Rune Blade you helped me forge. I also have several E. Drink X's in my bag as well. I also have tent, and a sleeping bag, some flint, an axe, and a fishing pole. I'll be fine." I said, and he nodded.

"I know. But remember, you can't survive indefinitely on Tomato Juice. You can for a while, but you still need to eat something else." He said, and I could see the worry in his eyes. I decided to give him some slack; seeing your only child leave can be difficult.

"I will dad; I promise." Just then, my mother came down the stairs from their bedroom.

"Oh Ciro, thank goodness you haven't left yet! I was afraid you'd leave without saying goodbye!" My mom, being a vampire, looked eternally 20, and she hadn't aged a day since my dad first met her. My dad, on the other hand, had aged a lot, but she still loved him more than anything in the world. Just goes to show that sometimes the oddest pairs make the best matches.

"It's okay, mom. I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye; plus, dad wouldn't let me." I said. Leaving at night had been my mother's idea; because I was half vampire, I have really good night vision, and can blend into the shadows quite easily. Especially since I like to dress in all black; my clothes were similar to my dad's, but black and without the skirt thing. I wore a black t-shirt with a grey vest sort of thing over it that comes down to between my waist and knees, as well as black trousers and grey boots. My mother made them for me when I turned 17, and I've been wearing them ever since (different ones every day, of course, but always the same outfit). It was kind of a tribute to her other self, who had tended to like more dark colors, and I did as well. I also looked almost exactly like my dad had when she first met him, so I think the different color and design was to help remind herself I wasn't him.

"Now, are you all set?" Dad asked, all serious. I nodded, and he pulled me into a hug. "You be careful!" He said, sternly and I nodded, grinning.

"You know I'm strong, and I practice with you and Marco all the time!" I said, grinning. Marco, though ten years older than me, was the son of the towns Blacksmith, who also happened to be an elf. We looked about the same age, too, but that's because elves age slower.

"We know, Ciro, we just worry about you. But every bird needs to leave the nest. Or bat, as the case may be." Mother said, smiling gently. She pulled me into a hug, and I stiffened, but relaxed after a second. She smelled of tomatoes, and Moondrop Flowers, which dad grew near the Tower of Rest just for her; they're her favorite.

"I love you guys," I said, stepping back from her. They both turned towards me, mom with tears in her eyes, and dad with a conflicted expression.

"Ciro, I know it's not much, but… I want you to have this. It was one of the first things I made for myself on my adventures, and I think it's time for you to have a new item." He said, handing me a simple black wool cap. It wasn't fancy, and the knitting was even clumsy, but the magic woven into it was still strong. And underneath the magic, I could sense something that the spirits were whispering, but I couldn't quite understand….

"Thanks, dad. I'll take good care of it." I said, slipping the hat on over my shaggy brown hair, the exact shade of my fathers. "Now, I should get going." I said, and they both nodded. I turned, opened the door, and took my first step out into the world. The sky was getting darker, and the moon had just peeked out of the sky, competing with the last rays of sunlight. It was going to be a good night. I headed over to Kross's farm, and headed out the gate, and down the path. It was easy going, and I wasn't even quite sure where I was going, just that it wasn't here. The spirits had begun to whisper to me recently, but nothing was coming through clear… It was all garbled. Which was weird; they were always clear in their intent, even if not using words. Lately, though… They seemed to be distancing themselves from the land. Mom and dad hadn't noticed yet, but I think it was easier for me, being vampire and Earhtmate. The land seemed to be crying, and the spirits were dying. Well, as much as a spirit can. They just kind of… disappeared.

I had been walking for over an hour, when I heard a rustle in the woods. I grabbed the handle of my blade, which was peeking out of the edges of my rucksack on my back, for quick drawing.

"Who's there?" I asked. I knew it was at least humanoid; the spirits react differently to everything, but this was one of the humanoid races, I just wasn't sure whether it was friendly yet.

"Do not attack. You will be sorry." A feminine voice said, and a woman stepped into the path.

She was beautiful, in a savage way. She seemed almost wild; her hair, while clean, was long and seemed to have no real style, just pulled back from her face and tied somehow in the back. Her skin was pale, and her hair was silver, but her eyes were bright green. She was shorter than me, and very thin, but I could tell that her frame hid a power that I couldn't quite describe. Her ears, like mine, were slightly pointed, almost as if elven, but I knew better. No, that was almost…

"You're vampire!" I gasped.

_**Should I continue? I figured I'd take a new look at the series; following Raguna's child, kind of like following Molly's child in Son of a God. Let me know what you think! :D**_


	2. The Song

_**A.N. Today you only get this story; I have a court issue tomorrow: I was going 40 in a 25 headed into a school zone :P Long story short, I have to go beg for my license tomorrow because I'm just shy of 20 :/ Hope you enjoy my second chapter!**_

"You… You can tell?" The woman asked, shocked. I nodded. "Most people mistake me for elven." She said, and I smiled, letting a fang show.

"I know how that is. But as soon as they see the fang, they realize how wrong they were. But the village I grew up in was okay with it. My mother married the local hero; my dad saved the entire town, and possibly even the town, not only once, but twice. He saved another town from a full-scale attack from the Zzyzx Empire with nothing more than a watering can! But anyways, what are you doing out here?" I asked, honestly curious. She'd caught my interest; she was the first being like me I've ever met. Mom may be a vampire, but she didn't understand my struggle; I have two parts of me. The part of me that's like dad: I'm close to the Earth, I can hear her voice, but never clearly. I can tell when she's sad, angry, or at peace. I also have my mother's side: I crave blood, but not unless I smell it. Tomato juice can sustain me, but not indefinitely, like mother. I can last of it for weeks, maybe even months, though.

"You too, huh? How random. I didn't expect to meet another of the clan out here. What's your level?" She asked, and I looked at her weird.

"What do you mean, level?" I asked, and she looked at me, shocked.

"How can you be vampire and not know about levels? Each vampire, when born, is given a level when their born, based on their parentage and how clean their blood is. Without proof of your blood… You can't claim any vampire heritage. No matter how much you have, the tribe would never accept you as more than, well… A slave. It was nice meeting you, but I cannot associate with you." She said, and I blinked, taken aback.

"Wait! My mother was a full-blooded vampire." I said. She stopped in her tracks, and turned back to me, fire in her eyes.

"Don't you dare claim to be a true half-ling! None have been born in over three hundred years, because the gene pool has become so polluted that none of the young can be more than a quarter without being inbred!" She said, then calmed a bit, looking sad. "We don't even have the ability to pass on the spirit song anymore." She said, and I gasped.

"But… I can Sing." I said, and she looked at me. The one thing my mother had taught me was the spirit song, but our connection went even deeper than that. I could use the spirit song to talk to them, but they could read my mind, tell what I want, and they whisper to me, tell me things sometimes. The only person I have ever met who could do it was Candy, and mom suspects their might be vampire blood somewhere in her lineage. But, back to what I was saying, the ability to Sing was regarded highly in all vampire tribes, and everyone could do it. But the half-ling children didn't always get this gift, and since the vampires were getting closer and closer to going extinct through inbreeding, it had become somewhat of a rare thing.

"Impossible! I can tell that you are a young child… But there is a strong aura of power coming from you." She said, and she walked around me in a circle. "Prove it." She said, and I nodded.

"I'll try. But the spirits have been… Distant lately. Their voices have become garbled, and they seem to be almost… Disappearing. " I said, and she frowned, but I closed my eyes. I reached out with my mind to the spirits around me, and I… Sang. The songs words had been lost, even to my mother, for a long time, until my father found them.

"Pray to heaven with a song

As the winds caress me

Send a prayer up to the light

So that it might help me see

Searching through my memories

Memories, my memories for you

For you

I have come this far having lost every hope

Hope of finding you

But I swear no matter what I've had to face

You've never left my heart

There are sweet memories

They live all around us

How can you not believe in our love

My full heart belongs to you

My life your love leads

I've always stood next to you

In your time of need

Embraced by the warmth of your gentle gaze

I've given you my love

I look for you now in my memories

Heart never mending,

Love never ending

Pray to heaven with our song." I sang, and the spirits materialized around me, circling me, sensing that I didn't need them so much as I wanted to prove I could summon them. They were happy to be of help; they were sad that not as many people could converse with them anymore. And to have a physical form, however fleeting, is something they cherish.

The woman looked shocked, and a single tear made its way down her face. "I haven't heard that song in over a thousand years. And in that time, I never realized how much I've missed the spirits being manipulated. Our society was once so grand… But our women were becoming infertile, and the men, to try and fix it, bred with the other races. The elves and the dark elves created almost perfect vampires, but they were more in tune with the earth than the spirits; they were Earthmates, not vampires. Humans, though. Humans created imperfect vampires, but they tended to take on the powers of vampires more than other humans. Now there are so few vampires left that any that pop up have thought they were the only pure vampire left. My husband and I are the only full-blooded vampires in the area, or so we thought. If what you say is true, your mother is very lucky indeed. Come, I want to show us to our village." She said, grabbing my hand. With that, we ran off into the trees, at speeds normal humans can only dream of; though she ran almost too fast for even me!


End file.
